Japanese Housing Starts Post 4th Consecutive Monthly Gains

Total housing starts in Japan posted their fourth consecutive monthly increase in June, rising 7.3% to 76,312 units. Owner occupied housing increased 10.6%, while rental housing rose 11.8%. Total wooden constructed housing posted an increase of 11.1% to 45,750 units and total wood floor are showed a significant 23.2% jump. Post and beam starts were up 8.6% to 35,804 units. Wooden prefab starts advanced 10.6% to 1,058 units and total pre-fab housing was up 4.2% to 10,822 units.

Notably, as a percentage of all housing, wooden construction reached a 60% market share. To put this number in context, the average market share for wooden housing between 2000 and 20009 stood at around 46%. Between 2010 and 2019, the average increased to 56%. Wooden housing continues to gain ground as a measure of the overall housing market.

Total June non-residential starts totaled 3,851 units with a total floor area of 3.5 million m2. Between January and June total non-residential starts increased 3.3% and wooden non-residential starts increased 3.4%.